


Here For You

by gardenofmaris



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Anxiety, Love Confessions, M/M, Shitty is a Sap(TM)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-07
Updated: 2016-10-07
Packaged: 2018-08-19 23:37:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,002
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8228615
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gardenofmaris/pseuds/gardenofmaris
Summary: Shitty helps Jack calm down, and they're both ridiculously affectionate





	

Jack closed his eyes, taking a deep breath and just focusing on the hand running through his hair. He sighed in something closer to contentment when another hand grabbed his, the thumb rubbing over the back of his palm. The heartbeat in his ear made it easier to breathe at a steady tempo, and the rise and fall of the chest beneath his head added to the relaxation.

“It's just easier to focus on hockey,” he mumbled. “Why can't I just forget everything else.”

“Because life is no fun that way, brah,” Shitty replied, letting go of Jack's hand in favor of wrapping that arm around him and pulling him closer. “You've gotta focus on other things, because then you can enjoy life instead of just surviving.”

“But focusing on other things takes away from hockey. And I can't-” His voice broke and he closed his eyes tighter, hand clutching at Shitty's arm. “I can't disappoint him again.”

“Jack,” Shitty whispered, and Jack's chest got tight at the sorry tone in his voice.

“Don't,” he snapped suddenly, moving to get up. “Don't pity me.”

Shitty's hand shot out and grabbed Jack's shirt sleeve. “I'm not pitying you, Jack.”

Everything in him whispered that Shitty was lying, that he completely pitied Jack, that he saw Jack as this pathetic robot loser who didn't even know how to live life. But he looked Shitty in the eyes, and another, smaller but somehow louder voice, told him that Shitty was telling the truth. He sagged back into Shitty, frowning and burying his face in Shitty's chest. “I'm sorry,” he mumbled, voice muffled by the skin in front of him.

A soothing chill ran down his spine as Shitty began running his fingers through Jack's hair again. “Don't worry about it, brah. I understand. Anxiety is a bitch.”

Jack laughed bitterly, wrapping his arms around Shitty and holding him close. “Thank you for understanding.”

He could feel Shitty kiss the top of his head and smiled, tilting his head back so that Shitty could give him more kisses, this time all over his face before finally landing on his lips. As Shitty showered endless love and adoration on him, the tight, ugly feelings that were coiling up in his gut unfurled, mostly dissipating until his anxiety was just that incessant little buzzing that was annoying but bearable.

“Doing better?” Shitty asked when he finally pulled away, nuzzling Jack's jaw.

Jack chuckled, Shitty's mustache tickling his jaw. “Yeah,” he admitted quietly, still smiling ever so slightly. “Thank you for being here for me. I don't know what I'd do without you.” The phantom smell of disinfectants and medicine, coupled with a distant beeping sound, came back to him as soon as the sentence left his mouth, and he grimaced. “Actually...” he muttered, “I kind of do know what I'd do without you.”

Shitty frowned, obviously picking up on where Jack's mind had taken him. “Hey,” he reassured, tilting Jack's heads up and giving him a quick and chaste kiss to remind Jack that he loved him, “it doesn't matter. I'm here now. And you're not getting rid of me.” He smiled, cupping Jack's cheek, and the look he gave Jack was so full of love that it honestly took Jack's breath away. “You're stuck with me now.”

Jack couldn't speak, too overcome with emotion, and leaned forward to hug Shitty tightly, arms wrapping around him until Shitty squirmed, laughing and reminding him that he was only human and he needed to breathe. He released Shitty with a laugh, and this time it was his turn to shower Shitty in affection, kissing him over and over until they were both laughing.

Shitty rolled them over so that they were both on their sides, grinning like goofs and being a sort of affectionate that had them both bubbling over with happy feelings. Of course, it inevitably ended up with them having a tickle war. They fought until their sides were sore and they were lightheaded from laughing so hard, and eventually collapsed together on the bed, wrapped up in one another.

“Hey Shits?” Jack asked, voice soft and content.

“Yeah, Jack?” Shitty responded.

“Do you think we'll always be together?”

The silence coming from Shitty started to bring back the ugly feelings that always sat dormant in his gut, but a kiss and the way Shitty grabbed his hand helped to mostly silence us.

“I wish I knew,” Shitty started, voice a little distant, looking at Jack. Jack had the feeling that Shitty was imagining the ten million different ways their life could go in the same way that Jack was currently doing. “I mean, hell, I'd love that. If it were up to me, I'd say hell yes. I'd get down on one knee and ask you to be mine forever. But life is a bitch, and things change.” Shitty frowned for a split second, and Jack knew exactly how he felt. But then he looked back at Jack, and his breath was taken away by the conviction in his eyes. “I know one thing is never going to change though, and that's that I love you so much I'd give everything for you. Whether we end up growing old together as neighbors or as husbands, I'm going to love you until the day I take my last breath.”

Jack's face was getting warmer with every word Shitty said, and he couldn't help but smile breathlessly at Shitty. “I'll always love you too, Shits.”

Shitty grinned back at him and pressed their foreheads together. “Hey, we've got at least two and a half more years together. It's only our sophomore year.” He laughed. “Do you think one of us will be Captain of the team someday?”

Jack shrugged. “Maybe? I don't know.”

“Honestly, if anyone in our year is gonna get to be Captain, it's gonna be you. You kick all the asses out there.”

He rolled his eyes and kissed Shitty again, laughing softly. “That'd be fun.”


End file.
